Why the heck don’t those drapes close all the way?

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It’s easier to use your iPhone to call the front desk than navigate the 500
buttons on the hotel phone, says Executive Travel’s Steve Glenn in his list
of hotel pet peeves. (Getty Images)

Same goes for the buttons on those outdated alarm clocks. That pet peeve
took the No. 2 spot in Executive Travel’s 2019 list. (Getty Images)

And trying to program the thermostat? “I want a simple thermostat to tell
you it is 74 degrees…has one button to make the temperature warmer and
one button to make the temperature cooler,” Glenn says of his No. 3 hotel
pet peeve. (Getty Images)

You know the four-outlet electrical power bars we have at home? We want one
of those in every hotel room, too, says Glenn, on the Executive Travel pet
peeve list. (Getty Images)

Charging you to use the pool, read a newspaper or work out in the gym?
Resort fees are one of CEO Steve Glenn of Executive Travel’s biggest hotel
pet peeves. (Getty Images)

Steve Glenn gets so annoyed with hotel drapes that don’t close all the way
— and shine a sliver of light on his eyes all night — that he suggests
carrying a clothespin to keep them closed when he travels. (Photo: Getty
Images)

Charging for WiFi? What is this, 2003? An airplane? Some hotels still
charge $10-$15 for guests to get Internet access — a huge no-no, says
Steve Glenn of Executive Travel. (Getty Images)

Some energy-friendly hotels require use of a key card to turn on the
electricity in their rooms, which is great, except when you need to charge
your laptop while you’re away, says Steve Glenn of Executive Travel. (Getty
Image)

We loathe rough sheets and thin towels. Oh, and what’s the deal with rooms that have one visible electrical plug? Are the others covered up by king beds and useless desks? You need at least three for all the devices we schlep around these days. That made No. 5 on the list. Resort fees (No. 6), Charging for WiFi (No. 9) and Programmable Thermostats (No. 3) also cracked the top 10.

In the words of Executive Travel CEO Steve Glenn, who compiles the list with input from hundreds of travelers: “This is my yearly open challenge to the hotel industry to listen to their customers and show us their commitment to improving the customer experience,” he said in a press release. “Ironically, most of the pet peeves identified by travelers are very inexpensive to fix and could be done in a matter of days for just a few dollars.”

Jessica Yadegaran is a writer and editor for the Bay Area News Group's Eat Drink Play section, which is devoted to all things food, wine, cocktails, and travel. She also spent two years in the Pacific Northwest as the food and dining editor for Seattle magazine. Yadegaran has a degree in journalism from San Diego State University and has been with the Bay Area News Group for more than 10 years.